The Head of the Algerian Movement of Society for Peace, Abdul Razzaq Muqri, called on Arabs, Muslims and supporters of Palestine to review their positions and methods of support for the Palestinian cause, in light of the Russian war against Ukraine and the Western position on it.
In his statements published today on his Facebook page, Muqri stressed that the West’s haste in imposing severe sanctions on Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine, and the West’s refraining from imposing similar sanctions on Israel, which is committing crimes against the Palestinian people, are evidence of what he described as “the hypocrisy of the West and its followers in our Arab countries”.
“The hypocritical West punishes Russia economically by boycotting its goods and, on the sporting level, by banning tournaments and matches, and culturally by banning even Russian music in Western countries. However, when it comes to the tragedy of Palestine, the expropriation of the Palestinian lands and the shedding of Palestinian blood, normalisation with the executioner and the criminal becomes an urgent necessity, and we are then told that the economic, sporting and cultural aspects should not be included in the matter,” Muqri added.
Muqri considered that the position of the West is not surprising; he said: “The hypocrisy of the West is known to everyone, but what are the people devoid of civilisation and culture in our countries saying today? Will they review, from now on, their position on the methods of our support for the Palestinian cause? Will they apologise to wrestler Fathi Norine and others like him? “
It is worth mentioning that the Algerian judo champion, Fathi Norine, announced last November his permanent retirement from playing, due to the Olympic Committee’s decision to ban him from playing for ten years after his withdrawal in front of an Israeli player in the last Tokyo Olympics.
READ: The right to self-defence: between Ukraine and Palestine
On 24 February, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine, which was followed by angry international reactions and the imposition of “tough” economic and financial sanctions on Moscow, the last of which was yesterday, Wednesday, when the World Bank announced the suspension of all its projects in Russia and Belarus due to the military attack on Ukraine.
Internationally, after the unanimous call by the United Nations General Assembly for Russia to immediately stop its war in Ukraine, some countries that always preserved permanent neutrality broke their silence and issued anti-Russian statements condemning its military intervention against Ukraine, announcing their intention to provide military arms to Kiev.
Some countries such as Sweden, Finland, Austria, Switzerland and Ireland, which preferred to remain silent and neutral about what happened in war-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, have expressed an anti-Russian stance against its offensive over Ukraine.
These countries, which always preserved permanent neutral status, openly declared their support for Kyiv. They also announced the closure of their airspace to Russian aircrafts and imposed sanctions on Moscow.
These countries consider that the successive decisions they have taken regarding the Russian military operation in Ukraine bring back painful memories left by World War II, and demonstrate the European countries’ determination to show unity of their position in this regard.
